Archibalds seek second straight Railway triumph with Depth Of Character
Annabel and Rob Archibald will bid for back-to-back Railway Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) victories on Saturday when Queensland Guineas (Gr 2, 1600m) winner Depth Of Character (Deep Field) takes his place in the Ascot feature.
Despite having not tasted victory since his Group 2 win, the Deep Field (Northern Meteor) gelding heads west with solid spring form, including a last-start fourth behind superstar filly Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun) in the $10 million Golden Eagle (1600m). His profile closely mirrors that of last year’s Railway winner Port Lockroy (Better Than Ready), who the Archibalds also prepared to Group 1 success in Perth.
Depth Of Character will, however, need to overcome a wide barrier, having drawn the outside gate for the $1.5 million feature.
“He’s been racing well,” co-trainer Rob Archibald told ANZ News. “He ran a really good fourth in the Golden Eagle, and Port Lockroy came through the Golden Eagle last year, so you’d like to think he’s coming in with the right form lines.
“He’s got a very difficult draw, which he’s going to have to overcome. But apart from that, I think the horse is in super order and we’re very happy with him.
“He seems to have traveled over there well. Liz is with him and she’s pleased with the way he’s been, so from our point of view, he’s got over there well, he’s been in good form leading into the run. We’re just going to need some luck from the gate.”
A $180,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale purchase from China Horse Club’s The Chase in 2023, the son of Newgate’s pensioned sire Deep Field hails from the high-quality family of star fillies Pussy O’Reilly (O’Reilly) and Pussy Willow (O’Reilly), and will attempt to turn around a run of misfortune when he steps out on Saturday.
“He’s had a couple of starts where he hasn’t had much luck, but I really liked his run the other day, and he’s a horse where you get the first half of the race right, then he usually does his best work late,” Archibald said.
“Reece Jones will be going over to ride him, and I’m sure he’ll be watching all the replays and trying to work out where you need to be in the run. But hopefully there’s good pressure and hopefully we can slot in somewhere around midfield.
While Depth Of Character spearheads the stable’s Western raid, last year’s Railway hero Port Lockroy (Better Than Ready) will chase a form reversal in The Gong (1600m) at Kembla Grange, where he has barrier 14 and Tommy Sherry booked to ride. The entire has not won since his Group 1 triumph in Perth and has been out of sorts this preparation.
“He’s been racing a bit below expectations this preparation,” Archibald said. “He’s probably going to be a candidate for potentially getting gelded if he doesn’t show a good step forward here. It’s not the easiest of draws, but we felt like it was a good opportunity for him and look, hopefully he can bounce back and show us a little bit.”
Port Lockroy also holds a nomination for the Northerly Stakes (Gr 1, 1800m), but Archibald said Saturday’s performance will determine whether he returns to Perth this year.
“He won’t be heading over unless he puts in a big performance there on Saturday. We’ve given him a slight gear change, we’ve had winkers on him and blinkers go on and hopefully that has the desired effect,” he said.
The Archibalds will also be represented later in the carnival by Libertad (Russian Revolution), who is already in Perth to contest next weekend’s Winterbottom Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m).
“We have Libertad over there for the Winterbotton. He obviously ran fourth the other day in the champion sprint, so I feel like he’s in good form. It’s always a strong race, the Winterbottom, there’s some nice horses that have gone over. But we feel like he’s a genuine chance, and he’s travelled over well.”